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“Hurry up and fix that shit.”
That was the blunt message from an Auckland motorist to a group of New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) managers and engineers on Sunday afternoon, as they walked through the closed inner lanes of the Harbor Bridge.
They were escorting the media to the bridge after what the NZTA calls a bizarre incident on Friday, which blew up a truck against a steel load-bearing beam, rendering the center lanes unusable.
The effects of the closure have spread across Auckland’s already congested motorways and continue to cause long delays and traffic jams.
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A possible workaround that allows some interior lanes to be opened to lighter vehicles won’t be in place for a week, if it goes ahead. Permanent repair will take even longer as a beam must be designed and manufactured from scratch.
The NZTA is asking people on the North Shore to work from home if possible, or to use the western ring route or buses if not.
He is also investigating ways to create express lanes to the city end of the bridge, which exist on the shore side with the Northern Busway.
Brett Gliddon, general manager of transportation services for NZTA, said a team of about nine structural engineers was working on a solution.
Abigail Dougherty / Stuff
It will be necessary to replace the twisted steel structural support member.
If the previous week’s traffic patterns were to repeat Monday, the result would be severe congestion, he said.
But Gliddon took an optimistic tone when he defended the operation and maintenance of his agency’s bridge, explaining how the situation arose and what should be done.
How exactly did this happen?
At around 11 a.m. Friday, sudden strong gusts brought down two trucks as they crossed the bridge, Gliddon said.
One was at the top of the bridge when it was knocked down by a gust and crashed into a steel beam, twisting the metal and cutting it where it connected to the bridge below the road surface.
Gliddon said the wind was acceptable at 60km / h before it shot out to a 127km / h gust before subsiding again.
“We were hit by an absolutely abnormal gust of wind that caught a truck that was right at the top of the bridge.
“That is really difficult to design.”
NEW ZEALAND TRANSPORTATION AGENCY
Strong winds have brought down a truck on Auckland’s Harbor Bridge, causing long delays in traffic.
The beam did what it was supposed to do, cutting the bolts instead of pulling and damaging another support member, with its load transferred to other supports in the steel truss.
The bridge is still able to stand on its own, but engineers are unwilling to allow traffic on the original inner lanes, which opened in 1959.
The two outer rails on each side, trimmed 10 years after opening, have their own support structure and are not dependent on the damaged truss.
When will a temporary solution arrive?
Not for a week, if possible.
Gliddon said a temporary fix would involve cutting half of the damaged section, adding a little more steel, and then bolting it to the bridge.
That would allow more load on the bridge, but not a full load, meaning not all lanes are likely to open and heavy vehicles are limited to clips.
Engineers continue to calculate the numbers to determine if that approach will work, Gliddon said.
“We are working hard to achieve it, but we still have no guarantees that it will work.”
How about a permanent solution?
That is a bit more complicated.
About nine structural engineers are working on the problem, which requires replacing the entire damaged beam from top to bottom.
Gliddon said the work can be done entirely with materials and expertise already available in New Zealand, and there is no need to bring in foreign experts.
But it is not as simple as finding a new beam and screwing it in.
Abigail Dougherty / Stuff
A worker on the Auckland Harbor Bridge on Sunday, where the impacted steel support member broke off the road surface.
One has to be built from scratch, taking care that its material and design work with the six-decade bridge, Gliddon said.
”Because the bridge is dynamic. It heats up, it shrinks, it’s constantly moving, so we have to make sure that any new part we use, with the new materials and the new steel, will work in today’s environment. “
Placing the beam will mean using jacks on each side to tension it and push the load into the bracket, before tightening the bolts.
Abigail Dougherty / Stuff
New Zealand Transportation Agency General Manager of Transportation Services Brett Gliddon is confronting the media over the closure of the port bridge’s internal lanes following a truck accident.
“The real challenge right now is getting the design right,” Gliddon said.
Once the work is completed, the design will need to be reviewed by independent specialists.
“So it’s going to take a little time.
“We can’t take any chances with this kind of thing.”
Are changes necessary to the way the bridge is operated and maintained?
In Gliddon’s opinion: no.
“I don’t think we need to do any [changes]. We care for this bridge incredibly closely.
“We have a team that works 24/7 … maintaining and operating it.
“It was a strange situation.”
Abigail Dougherty / Stuff
The NZTA took the media on a tour of the damaged Auckland Harbor Bridge on Sunday.
He also didn’t think the incident meant the NZTA should have spare parts on hand.
“Each piece of this bridge is slightly different.
“We can’t take every piece of steel in a shed somewhere, that’s unrealistic.”
Abigail Dougherty / Stuff
The bent steel support member no longer supports any load.
